


Falling Slowly

by viennajones



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Community: merlin_holidays, Fluff, Holidays, M/M, Snow Globes, Winter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-30
Updated: 2013-11-30
Packaged: 2018-01-02 13:44:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1057453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/viennajones/pseuds/viennajones
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Merlin builds snow globes and sells them in a small shop in Camelot. One day, he is offered a great opportunity to expand his business, but there is something holding him back.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Falling Slowly

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bunnysworld](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bunnysworld/gifts).



> Happy Holidays, bunnysworld. I hope you enjoy this fic! 
> 
> I had originally written something very different, but then one of the greatest cities in the world inspired me to write this story instead. 
> 
> A massive thank you to the lovely Mightypretty for the beta and patience (she literally sat next to me while I was writing this and kept me going ♥)

The snow was falling slowly, covering the small house with its red rooftop and the bundle of trees next to it in a fine layer of brilliant white. A deer was standing there unmoving, half-hidden by a fir tree, as if it was waiting for something to happen, but nothing did until the snow finally stopped falling.

Then Merlin gave the snow globe another shake and the scene repeated itself as he set it down on the shelf next to the other globes of this limited edition. They were all handmade and had slight variations because Merlin hated doing the same thing over and over again.

Shortly after he'd returned to his desk, the bell that was attached to the shop's front door rang and Merlin looked up. He'd never seen the man and woman that entered before. The tall man actually had to duck his head to avoid hitting it on the frame and he lingered back, looking at the shelves of snow globes while his companion crossed over to the counter which was also Merlin's work desk, filled with a colourful variety of figurines, materials, bases and globes.

"Hi there," the woman said with a friendly smile. Her beautiful face was framed by brown locks and her eyes were warm with a mischievous sparkle in them.

"Are you Merlin? I didn't expect you to be this young!"

"I get that a lot. It's the name, right?" Merlin nodded, laughing. "It is me, though. What can I do for you, Miss...?"

"Oh, do call me Mithian, please. A friend of mine recommended you, she's in love with your work! You remember Gwen Smith?"

"I do, yes. She's been coming in here for a couple of years now. It's lovely to meet you, Mithian."

"Likewise. This is Percy, by the way, but I think he's too afraid of smashing something to talk," she said.

Percy did undeniably look like a bull in a china shop, never touching any of the snowglobes, only studying them with serious expression. Most people picked them up right away to shake them.

"Cheers, Mith, you always say the sweetest things," Percy said and joined her in front of Merlin's desk, holding out his hand for Merlin to shake.

"I'm Percival Strong and I'd like to commission a snow globe for the Camelot Dragons," he continued while almost crushing Merlin's fingers. Merlin didn't really notice that, though. He was too busy processing.

The Dragons were Camelot's Hockey team. They'd won the League for the past three years in a row and Merlin was, much like anybody who'd grown up in Camelot, a huge fan. And they wanted one of his snow globes.

"You do make life-sized snowglobes, right? The one they had at The Unicorn last year was one of yours? It was brilliant!"

Merlin didn't really realise that Percy had asked him a question until Mithian nodded at him encouragingly.

"I did that, yes, and I'm glad that you liked it, but that was supposed to be a one-time thing," Merlin said. It'd been a favour for Will, the restaurant's owner, one of Merlin's oldest friends.

"What I usually do is commissioned and personalised snow globes, they come in three sizes and it takes me at least a day to make one of those, so you can imagine how much more time the big one would," Merlin explained.

Unfortunately, Percy didn't seem willing to accept that.

"Could you have ours done in time for the holidays? We're willing to pay whatever it takes and you could get started next Monday."

Merlin sighed inwardly. What he loved best was working on snow globes for ordinary people because they were more personal, the requests were diverse and Merlin liked the challenge of creating something that really meant something to the recipient.

Doing another huge project would take him away from that if he still wanted to sleep and he had already accepted a lot of commissions from regulars and a few new customers this year. Not all of them were finished yet.

On the other hand, he could really use the money. He'd been living in the shoebox apartment above his little shop for so long now that he could sometimes feel the walls crashing in on him. He also knew that a month would be enough time to get the thing done.

"Can I think about it? I need to check if I'll be able to work it out with my existing commitments and if I can get the building materials in time. I'll get back to you by tomorrow?"

It was a great opportunity, also to get some publicity for his shop, but Merlin didn't like making these kinds of decisions spontaneously. Hopefully this would buy him some time to figure out if he really wanted to do it.

Percival seemed like he would have loved to try and persuade Merlin then and there when Mithian put her hand on his arm to stop him from speaking. She raised one eyebrow at him before turning to Merlin with a big smile on her face.

"That would be great," she said and pulled a business card out of her purse and gave it to Merlin.

"This is my number. We'll be awaiting your call tomorrow. You really do have an extraordinary gift and we'd love to have your work for the Dragons."

Merlin shook their hands again before they left and sat down afterwards, his head spinning a little, and stared at the business card Mithian had given him. She was working for the PR department of the club.

Looking at the half-finished snow globe on his desk, Merlin decided that he would think about it again later. The work always calmed him and helped him to see things more clearly. He put the card away carefully and focused on modelling another one of the knights he needed for a medieval-themed commission.

 

When Elena and Lancelot stopped by for lunch, he'd written three pros-and-cons lists only to tear them up again and he still needed to make another three knights.

He allowed himself to be dragged out to Kilgharrah's in spite of all the work he still had to do and ordered a hot chocolate to go with his lunch, which finally clued Elena in on the fact that Merlin wasn't being his usual happy and quirky self.

"Oh darling, has he still not come by to pick it up? I thought we'd talked about this, Christmas is still a month away and you know that he is very busy with that really well-paid job he's got."

Merlin blinked at her without realising what she was going on about before he got it.

"Dammit, Ellie, you know I don't fancy Arthur because he's loaded, alright? And it's not even about that at all today, so just stop," he said, a little annoyed because now she'd also reminded him that he had a finished snow globe sitting on one of his shelves that had given him more headaches than he cared to remember. He could feel one coming on now.

"Wow, you're in bad mood. Hot chocolate usually means that you're sulking. There's a shot in there, isn't it?" She asked.

"Maybe," Merlin grumbled and wrapped his hands around the warm mug protectively.

"What happened, Merlin?" Lancelot asked with the soothing voice he usually used on sick children at his private practice.

Merlin didn't really want to talk about it, but knew his friends wouldn't let him off the hook easily and he wasn't about to start lying to them. Lancelot at least was able to give out decent advice every now and then.

When he was done telling them about what had happened in the morning, Elena, predictable as she was, squealed and proceeded to hug him, congratulating him as if she already knew that he was surely going to take the job. Elena often simplified her life by not overthinking things and she firmly believed in holding on to good things when they presented themselves.

To Merlin's surprise, Lancelot just shrugged and said, "I think you should do it. If you think you can get it done in time there really isn't anything that should be holding you back. Your customers will still be there, trust me. Nobody would pay that much money for a snow globe if they didn't love the artist. And this applies directly to that Pendragon guy."

Merlin groaned. "You have no idea what you're talking about and Arthur definitely doesn't love me and I wish I'd never told you about him. I've got to get back to work soon, so can we drop this, please?"

"You mean get back to staring at a business card?" Elena teased, but she did change the topic after Merlin kicked her under the table.

 

When Merlin got back to his shop, the dreaded business card was still waiting for him on the desk, so he ignored it and went up to his flat to make tea instead. While he waited for the water to boil, he contemplated what Lancelot had said, wondering if there really was something holding him back.

If he was being honest with himself he'd been waiting for something to happen for a very long time now and maybe it was time to just move on with his life, even if it was a scary thought.

He heard the bell to the shop ring again and cursed, running downstairs so quickly he nearly fell and broke his neck. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw who'd come in, recognising the man even though he was standing with his back turned to Merlin.

Merlin still remembered the day Arthur Pendragon had first stepped into his shop two years ago. It'd been a rainy Saturday in November, Merlin had been hung over from the surprise party Gwen had thrown him the night before and Arthur had been like a cure for his headache and a belated Birthday gift all at once.

He'd commissioned a snow globe for his sister and shown a real interest in Merlin and his work, hanging out in the shop until Merlin had finished the sketch for the globe, suggesting little bits and pieces that he thought his sister might like.

Sometimes Merlin thought that he'd fallen in love with Arthur right then.

"Hi, Arthur," Merlin said now, a little breathless.

Arthur turned around, looking startled until he saw Merlin and came up to him to shake his hand, a polite smile on his lips.

"Merlin, it's good to see you! I know I'm early this year, but I wanted to pick it up personally and I'll be terribly busy around Christmas. If the order isn't ready yet that is fine, though. I can send Gwaine to come and get it any time," he said.

Merlin had only actually seen Arthur twice, once when he'd placed the order on that Saturday two years ago and when he'd picked it up. Last year, he'd ordered it over the phone and Merlin had been terribly upset when one day, his assistant came by to pick it up.

He'd just started getting over this ridiculous crush when Arthur showed up again a few months ago to request another globe for his sister. Merlin had been afraid that Gwaine was going to collect it again, but here Arthur was, as gorgeous and charming as ever.

"You're in luck, I just finished it last week," Merlin said, though really the globe he'd designed for Morgana had been ready for over a month.

"Oh, that's brilliant! Gwaine always starts bitching around when I abuse my power and send him out to run errands."

"I know! Apparently you love to treat him like a servant, I've heard the whole sorry tale," Merlin laughed and added, "I doubt there is much truth to it, though."

"I'm glad to hear that you've got such a high opinion of me, Merlin," Arthur replied.

"Oh, it's not that. I just think that Gwaine is a rotten liar. Now hold on, let me get your globe," Merlin said, Arthur's laughter following him into the small storage room beneath the stairs.

There were two square boxes with Arthur's name attached to them on a sticky note. Merlin removed the sticky note from one of them before putting it into a bag. Then he stared at the second box, hesitating, before he remembered that he was supposed to be moving on with his life. This box was going to help him do that, one way or the other, so he grabbed it and put it into the bag as well and returned to the shop before he could change his mind.

"Here you go," he said as he handed the bag to Arthur, who took a quick look inside and frowned.

"I don't remember ordering two snow globes," Arthur said.

"One's for you, on the house. Christmas special for regular customers," Merlin said and couldn't help the blush that crept into his cheeks.

Arthur studied him for a moment as if he could see right through the lie, but then he nodded and said, "Cheers. I actually really wanted one of your globes, but nobody thought to give me one."

Merlin smiled. He loved that Arthur wasn't one of those blokes who pretended they didn't like things because other people might consider them stupid.

"Well now you've got one. I hope you'll like it," Merlin replied. Gods he hoped Arthur would like it.

"I'm sure I will, and I'm sure my harpy of a sister will love hers," Arthur said and got out his wallet to pay for Morganas gift.

"Wonderful," Merlin said, putting the money in the register. He handed Arthur the receipt.

For a moment, Arthur looked like he was going to say something, but then he just extended his hand again.

"Thanks, Merlin. Happy Holidays."

"Happy Holidays, Arthur. I'll see you," Merlin replied, even though he wasn't sure he'd ever see Arthur again.

 

Merlin didn't get much sleep that night. Between trying to decide what he was going to do about the new commission and angsting over Arthur's reaction to what was inside the snow globe, he found himself tossing and turning.

When his alarm went off at 8 he'd only managed to get three hours of sleep, and no amount of coffee in the world could fix that. Merlin had two cups regardless, which reminded him that he hated coffee just as much as he hated rain. Typically, it was pouring outside. He considered simply returning to bed to ignore the world for a day or two, but the coffee had made him too jumpy after all.

He grabbed a recording of his favourite musical soundtrack and went down to the shop where he had an old cd player with terrible loudspeakers that he refused to get rid of as long as it was still functioning. It made most songs sound like they'd been recorded half a century ago, but Merlin was used to it and sort of liked it.

He tried to get some work done for a while but eventually gave up and settled for keeping himself busy by dusting off the shelves while he listened to the music instead of making the call he'd originally wanted to make before lunch.

He didn't know how much time had actually passed when he was startled by the doorbell and turned around to see Arthur standing there. His heart suddenly seemed to be beating very fast and he had to take a deep breath before he spoke.

"You're back," Merlin said cleverly.

"You're a smart one," Arthur said. He let the door fall shut behind him and took a few steps towards Merlin. Then, he pulled the snow globe Merlin had given him out of his coat pocket and held it up between them.

At first glance it seemed completely empty, but when one shook it, a heart shape was revealed, stamped into a layer of show that was glued to the bottom. Once all the loose snowflakes had settled down again it was almost covered entirely. The words 'Will you go out with me?' were engraved on the golden base.

"I'm a little curious, Merlin, did you actually ask all of your customers out on a date or is it just me?"

"Just you." Merlin had no idea what was going on because Arthur made it terribly difficult to read him. His face was a sort of pleasantly blank that didn't give away if he was inclined to say yes, to let Merlin down gently or to rip his head off.

"That's what I thought," Arthur said and let the snow globe glide back into his pocket.

"I'm very flattered. There is one problem, unfortunately," he continued and Merlin's heart dropped to his stomach.

"Oh. Well, I suppose it was a long shot. Of course you're not gay. That's totally fine, Arthur. Don't worry about it, you didn't really have to come by to let me know, but thanks for doing it anyway," Merlin said and he realised that he was rambling but right now he just wanted to get rid of Arthur so he could be alone and drown in his own misery.

"No, that's not really it. I'm bi actually, but-"

"You're in a relationship. Really, Arthur, I'll be fine. Let’s just forget this ever happened, alright?“ Merlin interrupted because he didn’t want Arthur to explain anything. He shouldn’t have to explain himself at all.

“No, I’m perfectly single. Now do you want to keep guessing or will you let me finish talking?”

Inexplicably, Arthur didn’t seem irritated or angry. If anything he was smiling that polite smile again, which didn’t really go with the situation, but it was enough to shut Merlin up.

“Here’s the thing, Merlin. I don’t date people who are terrible kissers, you see? It’s a long story but if you’d ever wasted three evenings and a lot of money on someone who’s bad at kissing, you’d want to make sure that it doesn’t happen again, which is why I’m going to have to kiss you now before I agree to go out on a date with you. Is that alright?”

Merlin blinked, not sure he’d actually understood what Arthur was saying. He was talking about kissing, though, which didn’t sound like an entirely useless idea.

“Okay?” Merlin said, a little unsure of what to do next. He didn’t need to worry about it though because Arthur was suddenly very close and his smile was incredibly bright and his hands were framing Merlin’s head, one thumb stroking his cheek very gently, and that really was all the encouragement Merlin needed to surge forward and press his lips against Arthur’s.

It felt a little surreal that he was finally doing this, after daydreaming about it for as long as he had. At the same time, kissing Arthur felt like something he was supposed to be doing, his lips parting without much thinking on his part.

When Arthur pulled away, slowly, Merlin wanted nothing more than to chase after him and kiss him again, but he forced himself to open his eyes instead. He couldn’t resist licking his lips where the taste of Arthur’s still lingered. The fact that Arthur’s eyes flicked back to focus on his lips made Merlin bold.

“Well? Is that a yes then?”

“Fuck, yes. I was going to say yes anyway, you idiot. I just really didn’t want to wait for the kissing part. For the record though, you’re a great kisser,” Arthur said, grinning.

“You’re not too bad yourself, actually. I might let you keep that snow globe and not pass it on to the next customer.” Merlin probably did look like an idiot, the way he was grinning back at Arthur, but he didn’t care much.

“That’s funny, but I’m not going to give it back and I’m not sure this would work on anyone else, either. So where are you taking me on our first date?”

 

Things had quieted down around the Camelot Hockey Stadium, the crowds had disappeared to celebrate their team’s victory elsewhere and it had started to snow.

Merlin stood at the centre of the square in front of the stadium, looking down at his phone, when someone wrapped their arms around him from behind and pressed a kiss right behind his ear.

“Hi,” Merlin said quietly and smiled. “What took you so long?” He dropped his phone into the pocket of his jacket.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, love. I had to make a phone call,” Arthur replied and rested his chin on Merlin’s shoulder.

“It’s beautiful, you know,” he said after a moment, looking up at the snow globe in front of them that was the size of a small house, fine artificial snow swirling around the figure of a huge golden dragon, a puck caught between its teeth.

Merlin laughed. “You have to say so, though. You’re my boyfriend. Some people find it hideous!”

“They don’t know what they’re talking about, obviously,” Arthur said and let Merlin go from his embrace.

“Would you mind walking home?” Merlin asked.

Arthur shook his head. “No, not at all. I love taking walks in the snow.”

“Good. Me, too,” Merlin replied and took Arthur’s hand.

**Author's Note:**

> I used [this set of icons](http://lazycrazy.deviantart.com/art/Silent-Night-Christmas-icons-146501718) to create the dividers.


End file.
